MESSAGE : revenue, balance sheet and financial ratios

In 2025, MESSAGE achieves revenue of 8.4 M€. Over the period 2018-2025, the company shows strong growth with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of +8.2%. Significant drop of -10% vs 2024. After deducting consumption (4.8 M€), gross margin stands at 3.6 M€, i.e. a rate of 43%. This ratio measures the ability to generate value from commercial activity. EBITDA (= Gross margin - Personnel expenses - Taxes) reaches 237 k€, representing 2.8% of revenue. Warning negative scissor effect: despite revenue change (-10%), EBITDA varies by -55%, reducing margin by 2.8 pts. This reflects costs rising faster than revenue. The operating margin remains fragile, requiring cost vigilance. Ultimately, net income (= EBIT +/- financial result +/- exceptional - corporate tax) amounts to 123 k€, i.e. 1.5% of revenue. This profit can be retained or distributed to shareholders.

The debt ratio (= Financial debt / Equity x 100) stands at 71%. Debt level is high: negotiating margin with banks is reduced. Financial autonomy (= Equity / Total assets x 100) reaches 29%. The balance between equity and debt is satisfactory. Debt repayment capacity (= Financial debt / Cash flow) indicates it would take 5.2 years of cash flow to repay all financial debt. This ratio remains within usual banking standards. Cash flow represents 1.6% of revenue. Cash flow measures resources generated by operations, available for investment and debt repayment.

The liquidity ratio (= Current assets / Current liabilities) stands at 140.98. Concretely, the company has €2 of liquid assets for every €1 of short-term debt: no cash risk within 12 months. The interest coverage ratio (= EBIT / Interest expenses) is 33.3x. Operating income very largely covers interest expenses: high safety margin.

Working capital requirement (WCR) measures the cash timing gap between customer collections and supplier/inventory payments. Average customer payment term: 90 days (formula: Customer receivables / Revenue incl. VAT x 360). Supplier term: 58 days. The gap of 32 days means the company finances its customers for over a month before being paid relative to supplier payments. This weighs on cash flow. Inventory turnover is 42 days (= Average inventory / Cost of goods x 360). Fast turnover, sign of good inventory management. Overall, WCR represents 115 days of revenue, i.e. 2.7 M€ to permanently finance.

Based on 68 transactions of similar company sales (all years), the value of MESSAGE is estimated at 978 091 € (range 367 238€ - 2 572 678€). With an EBITDA of 236 905€, the sector multiple of 2.9x is applied. The price/revenue ratio is 0.22x (conservative valuation). This multiples method compares the actual sale price of similar companies to their financial indicators (Revenue, EBITDA, Net Income). It provides a market-based indicative estimate.
Medium reliability: estimate to be confirmed with in-depth analysis.